Engines, as used in automobiles, trucks, boats, planes, power equipment and the like, require oil to lubricate moving parts. The oil is used to prevent excess wear, increase efficiency and increase engine life. However, oil used in engines tends to break down with use over a period of time, such that the lubricity is reduced and the potential for wear increases. Additionally, oil picks up particulate contaminates caused by engine wear that can score engine parts, also reducing engine efficiency and engine life. Therefore, the oil and oil filter must be changed regularly to keep an engine running properly.
Since engine design commonly takes into account the fact that the oil and oil filter need to be changed regularly, the oil generally collects into an oil pan with a drain plug and the oil filter hangs from a portion of the engine, regularly at an angle, so that it can be unscrewed for removal and replacement. It is common practice that the oil filter be changed every time the oil is changed, to provide a clean environment in the engine.
However, there is often over 5 quarts of oil in an automobile, and more in most truck or larger engines, that needs to be removed when the oil and oil filter is changed. Even after the oil is drained from the oil drain hole in the oil pan, the oil filter retains an amount of oil due to the physical configuration of the oil filter on the engine, especially when mounted on the engine at an angle. This oil tends to leak from the engine as the oil filter is unscrewed from the engine, running down the oil filter onto the hands of the technician removing the oil filter, or onto the technician's clothes or face if positioned under the filter being removed. In addition to dirtying the hands of the technician, the oil is generally changed when the oil is hot, so that the technician can be scalded by the hot oil.
To assist in draining used oil and changing an oil filter, catch basins are used by the technician to catch the used oil and the oil dripping from the oil filter and engine. However, this does not diminish the fact that the oil draining from the oil filter and engine where the oil filter is connected runs down the filer and gets on the hands of the technician when the oil filter is being removed.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a way to contain the excess used oil exiting from the engine and/or oil filter when the oil filter is removed from the engine.